Copyright Royalty Tribunal Critical

Minister
of State for Legal Affairs Desmond Bannister presents the new Chairman
of the Copyright Royalty Tribunal, Kirkwood Seymour, with his letters
of Appointment at the Attorney General's Office, Post Office Building.
The Tribunal seeks to uphold the rights of musicians and performing
artists in The Bahamas. (BIS Photo/Kristaan Ingraham)

The statutory Copyright Royalty Tribunal, a critical tool in The Bahamas’
intellectual property (IP) regime according to State Minister for Legal
Affairs Desmond Bannister, has a new chairman.

The
statutory Copyright Royalty Tribunal, a critical tool in The Bahamas’
intellectual property (IP) regime according to State Minister for Legal
Affairs Desmond Bannister, has a new chairman.

Mr.
Bannister pointed to the increasing importance being placed on
intellectual property in the global arena, with some countries doing
what amounts to blacklisting other countries with poor or undeveloped
intellectual property regimes.

The state minister told the Journal he didn’t think The Bahamas is not in any danger of that sort of reputation.

"I don’t
believe there is any possibility that we will be blacklisted, because
we have done our work, and we are continuing to do our work and
cooperate internationally. I want to make that very clear," he said.
"What there is, however, is there are a number of countries that
continue to infringe international copyright principles and guidelines."

"The Bahamas
has to ensure that we don’t do that type of thing," Mr. Bannister said.
"To do that, we have to have organizations like this tribunal that look
out for the better interests of those copyright owners and persons who
ought to be protected by the copyright laws."

The
statutory Copyright Royalty Tribunal, constituted under the Copyright
Act, is responsible for royalties that are collected with respect to
copyright works.

The tribunal
has a statutory duty to collect those royalties and account for them to
government, and to assess any claims that are made in respect to
copyrights.

Kirkwood
Seymour was recently appointed chairman of the body, which also
includes accountant James Gomez and architect Stan Burnside.

"This
royalty tribunal is critical because they have to collect royalties
under the law, they have to maintain those royalties, and where there
are appropriate claims they have to review those claims and make the
appropriate payments."

Mr.
Bannister said he suspected that Bahamian artists will begin making
royalty claims at some point, which claims would have to be
appropriately assessed prior to payment.

"Right now
there are issues where a number of artists have been concerned about
how their material is being played and broadcast, issues of consent.
These are legal issues that will come to the forefront more and more as
we move on."

Mr.
Bannister noted that outgoing chairman Lowell Mortimer had done "an
amazing amount of work to bring about awareness of our responsibilities
in this area (IP)."

The minister reiterated that there are a number of issues The Bahamas has that raise concerns internationally,

"We have a
number of issues with respect to Cable Bahamas," he said. "We have a
number of issues with respect to Bahamian performers who would wish to
seek royalties at some stage. Whatever royalties are owed to them have
to be assessed and determined and paid."

"So these are critical issues that have to be addressed by this tribunal."

Mr.
Bannister explained that there has to be an IP regime that protects the
interests of creators of intellectual property, and also knows what the
international standards are and complies with them.

"Our
Caribbean area has had some real issues to deal with, with respect to
broadcasting of major television programmes by various cable providers
within the region. There’s a breakthrough in Trinidad recently but
there are still some serious issues that we as a country, and the other
countries in the region, have to consider."